Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I headed out of dodge with my dog for a few hours today to recharge my batteries. We went for a hike to a favorite spot where I never run into anybody. I've been feeling a bit burned out the past few days with so much going on with my studio, my son and summer activities. Then it was back to the studio and I had several uninterrupted hours of painting.
So here is where I left off. After this dries I'll put more time into this later this evening. This painting is a watercolor and the support is a full sheet of Arches Hot Press 300lb paper. For those of you who missed the previous posts see my earlier blog posts for photos of the progression of this piece. I am really getting in there with the darks. I am using a really strong mix of alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. The pigments are not thoroughly mixed on the palette . Instead I charge a large squirrel mop and really load the brush so the colors can mingle on the paper. This prevents the darks from becoming flat and dull.
I am really careful to keep a lot of soft edges at this point by wetting and softening with a brush any hard lines that appear. I save most of the hard edges for the final details or any place I want to place emphasis.

The eye is now getting it's initial glazes. I start by working wet on wet. This keeps soft edges as I start to describe the shape of the eye and ears and find the expression. In addition the values around the muzzle and nostril have been increased. As I push the darks the initial lightest glazes start to take on a very cool glow. This is the part I love about watercolor.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Today's post is the latest update on the Showjumper WIP (Work In Progress) . I have to admit I approached this last night with a LOT of trepidation! I am liking it so far and watercolor is not very forgiving. I got into the zone working n this stage where I just lost track of time. I love it when that happens

My original plan had been to do the eye and get rid of the creepy-mask-horse and just get some life into the piece. I can paint eyes in my sleep. But... because I was afraid to get in there with some darks I knew that THAT was where I needed to start. I got a lot further then I had planned and when I took a break a breathed a sigh of relief! I haven't killed it yet!

When I lay down the glazes in a piece by looking for different shapes I can get away from fussy details because the viewers eye fills in the rest of the information. I do like to use unorthodox colors in my horses and even though I ramp up the saturation in the initial glazes I will go over all of it with a light uniform glaze of ,say, Burnt Umber to pull it all together.

You can get a larger view of the image by clicking on it.

Watercolor Classes For Kids

My children's watercolor art classes are a go! Starting in September I will be teaching art classes at the Front Street Gallery in Patterson, NY. I will offering 6 week courses for homeschoolers during the school day and after school classes for children attending public school

We will cover basic techniques, such as getting to know our materials, wet on wet, wet on dry, finding basic shapes, basic color mixing and color value. We will then jump in and explore the fun world of watercolor. Students will work from still life and photograph reference material.

If you have an interest or would like to sign up , please, add your name to the mailing list for information and updates.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Every artist goes through this. Heck, EVERYONE, artist or not, hits this point once in awhile - where nothing seems to work and the creativity batteries are exhausted. One of the benefits of a professional education in the visual arts is that, as a student, you learn to push through those blocks. Don't feel like drawing? Too bad. Your job is to show up, sit down and produce credible work. It may not be a masterpiece (or it might) but it will at least be passable. Plus, (insert artist here, as everyone seems to have "heard" this from a different source! I thought it was Picasso, but, alas, no verification) once famously said that every artist has 10,000 bad drawings in them. So, even if what you are creating is fit only for the bottom of the bird cage, at least you are slogging your way towards drawing #10,001.
I know this. I realize it. I embrace it and expect it and know that if I just grit my teeth and push through, I will eventually be rewarded by a return to some sort of spark of inspiration. But in the meantime, and it IS a MEAN time, I have half finished artworks watching me from all corners of my studio and precious little desire or desire to work on them.
The only consolation (small one, to be sure) is that I have spoken to a few friends (and fellow artists) recently who have all confided to having the same "lack of momentum" problem. One of them is a bestselling novelist who stated simply that the book in her head wasn't "ready to be disgorged on the page yet." She finished with one word, which I think sums it up nicely: "Problem."

Fellow artists, how do you keep your motivation on days (or weeks) when things just aren't happening?

Here is where Tempest stands at the moment. Notice the ink wash(es) and then the scratching out... ad infinitum.

Friday, August 20, 2010

WORK IN PROCESS: "Red, At the Fence," 16" x 20", Golden Open Acrylics on a 2" cradeled Ampersand Gessobord, commissioned painting. I might change this title to "Wide Open Skies" - what do you think the title should be?

A few weeks back, I worked up a number of different compositional ideas for my client. The idea was to use color in an equine composition that evoked the landscape.

This was the concept she chose, with my assignment being to brighten the colors and eliminate the majority of the fencerow along with the halter.

So this is my progress after a day's work. I started with bright, saturated color, and am laying translucent glazes overtop, gradually bringing the saturation down while enhancing the subtleties and nuances of color. There's still a little bit of of ways to go, especially in properly capturing the fall of light across his withers/shoulders. But the layers of paint were getting a little gummy, and I decided to take a break and allow the entire surface to dry before working any further.

Inquiries may always come to me. I am a few days behind in emails, but will reply to you as soon as humanly possible!

Thanks, as always, for looking at - and sharing - my artwork and musings with your friends and family.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

"The Best Day Ever," 8" x 16", Golden Open Acrylics on Raymar panel, portrait of a Thoroughbred racehorse, collection of the artist. Inquiries (including booking your own pet portrait, from miniature size [4" x 4"] to larger than life) may always come to me.

Some of you might remember that last summer I road tripped it to Saratoga Race Track with my girlfriends Linda Shantz and Juliet Harrison. I had planned on going again this year, but things happened (like the solo show in Utah and the wine label win) that required my attention elsewhere.

Meanwhile, they went without me (the horror!!), and another dear friend, Sharon Passmore (yes, she should have a website but does not - yet!), joined them (see how replaceable I am?!).

Like a junkie I hung on their every Facebook status update and lingered over the photos they shared, hunting down the same Ben & Jerry's flavors they were indulging in and wishing there was a Lake Orion based Mrs London's to fill my pastry cravings.

Next year I am SO going to be in Saratoga.

But meanwhile, here's a painting inspired by last year's trip. The real thing, a horse truly named "The Best Day Ever," who capped off a most extraordinary day of inspiration at the track. (And I apologize right now for my poor photoshopping skills in knitting the multiple scans together.)

Thanks, as always, for looking at - and sharing - my artwork and musings with your friends and family.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

I've been taking a break from color lately and revisiting one of my favorite mediums. Scratchboard is the "red haired stepchild" to the venerable etching, one of the most popular reproduction mediums in the artistic world. Instead of requiring a metal plate, block of wood or (more recently) plexiglass and ready access to lots of dangerous chemicals, today's scratchboard consists of a clay ground affixed to board or heavy paper and coated with india ink. You scrape away at the india ink to expose the underlying clay, and - voila! - scratchboard's incredible detail. You can use anything to scrape away at the india ink- Xacto blades, specialized tools, steel wool, a dremel, an awl, a nail (I actually know a fellow student in college who did an entire board with a thumbtack), etc, etc - anything that will remove the ink without digging too deeply into the clay. I have been fascinated by this medium since high school, when my first attempt at a scratchboard of a girl and a row of 18th century buildings (it was very "Interview With the Vampire") won a major prize in a regional art competition. As the years have passed, it's a medium I have returned to often, usually with a sigh of relief and great enjoyment. My college thesis project was a full portfolio in scratchboard, and I will never forget the many comments made by gallery patrons (beware what you say in an art gallery - the artist may be standing right next to you!) as they all stepped forward to stare at the thousands of little hatchmarks that make up each image. I heard lots of things like "I would go crazy!" and "Who has the patience for that?" and "Who is insane enough to attempt 24 x 36 scratchboards?" I must confess I wondered the same thing as I worked on some of those damn pieces... scratch, scratch, scratching away frantically through the night.

To me, scratchboard is an exercise in zen. I can think of no other medium that is so meditative and soothing as you work, sitting with a shining black board picking away at details. Hair patterns, thread counts, textures, leaves, grass, fur, feathers - these things lend themselves superbly to scratchboard. I have found that by starting with a white clayboard and inking it myself, I have better control over how the ink will react to the blade, and I can get some effects that are harder to achieve on a commercially prepared board.

There are some truly legendary scratchboard artists out there who have pushed the medium beyond the traditional black and white by adding color or incorporating the technique into paintings, drawings and the like. Their innovation has inspired me to try new techniques, such as the one I am testing out for "Tempest". Instead of using blades to remove the surface ink, I am using small bits of sandpaper, steel wool and fiberglass to "draw" through to the clay surface. I've only spent about an hour or two on it, but so far I am very pleased with the effect.

"Tempest" WIP

And, from the box of "Works in Progress" in the studio, I unearthed a little scratchboard I started back in early 2000 as a demonstration piece. It seems that every equine artist has at least one "horse eye" painting or drawing in their portfolio, so here is my contribution. I'm keeping this one on the dining room table downstairs so I can work on it at night while watching tv. There's no big pressure to get this one done, and it's pure pleasure to curl up next to my dh and scratch, scratch, scratch away.

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